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The appointment of S. Sivasubramanian, a retired judge of the Madras High Court, to head a Commission of Inquiry to probe charges against DMK leader M. Karunanidhi is an act of vendetta by the Chief Minister J. Jayalalitha. This is just one in a series of politically motivated commissions and hand-picked heads of Commission. Apart from being improper, such appointments to head a commission renders the commission unconstitutional. The Supreme Court while giving its advisory opinion on the Special Courts Bill 1978 had made it clear the Court would strike down the Bill unless the government gets...

The appointment of S. Sivasubramanian, a retired judge of the Madras High Court, to head a Commission of Inquiry to probe charges against DMK leader M. Karunanidhi is an act of vendetta by the Chief Minister J. Jayalalitha. This is just one in a series of politically motivated commissions and hand-picked heads of Commission. Apart from being improper, such appointments to head a commission renders the commission unconstitutional. The Supreme Court while giving its advisory opinion on the Special Courts Bill 1978 had made it clear the Court would strike down the Bill unless the government gets it amended to provided that only a sitting judge of a high court would be appointed to preside over a special court. The appointment also would be made not merely after consultation with but with the concurrence of the Chief Justice of India.